In Ulster, Black Friday draws shoppers, protesters (video)

Protesters gather outside Walmart in the town of Ulster on Friday. (Freeman photo by Paula Ann Mitchell)

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. -- The lines started Thursday evening, with people camping outside stores with their coolers, blankets, lawn chairs and board games.

One person outside Best Buy at Hudson Valley Mall in the town of Ulster even brought a bed and was huddled under blankets, awaiting the midnight opening of the home electronics store.

People like Barbara Fassett were among those braving Thursday night's cold temperatures to get first dibs at door-buster merchandise on Black Friday -- the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally marks the start of the holiday shopping season.

Fassett, who lives in the Hyde Park hamlet of Staatsburg, said it was her first time going out this early for Black Friday. She and her daughter, Alison Wesolowski of Middletown, planted their chairs along the sidewalk outside Best Buy at 6:20 p.m. Thursday.

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They were hoping to get their hands on a 50-inch Toshiba TV, which was on sale for $400.

"It's normally twice that," Fassett said, adding that she served her family their Thanksgiving meal at 2:30 p.m. so she and her daughter could get in line early.

Fassett and her daughter made friends with other deal-seekers nearby like Katarina Scism of Kingston, who also had electronics on her shopping list.

"I'm looking for things like a TV and a laptop," Scism said, admitting she'd arrived outside Best Buy at 6 p.m.

"Am I cold? Yes," she said. "Is it worth it? Not sure."

Retailers across the country certainly hope the end results show that it was.

According to the National Retail Federation, holiday spending is expected to rise 4.1 percent this year.

More than 24 percent of Black Friday shoppers were out before midnight last year, the agency said, and nearly 39 percent of shoppers were in stores before 5 a.m.

This year, many retail giants, like Wal-Mart, were open on Thanksgiving Day, with door-buster items featured between 8 p.m. and midnight.

That had some local protesters, like Barbara Sarah, of Kingston upset.

She and a group of others, including teachers, Occupy Wall Street supporters and college students, stood outside the Walmart store in the town of Ulster store with placards, denouncing the chain and its labor practices.

"The Wal-Mart employees don't get health-care coverage, so they wind up coming to our local emergency rooms for their health care, and that's why our hospitals are in trouble," Sarah said.

"I'm upset for those people who have to come and ask for charity care at the hospitals 'cause they can't afford it with an $8 an-hour income," she added.

The town of Ulster protest was among an estimated 1,000 held at Walmart stores in 46 states from Thursday night through Friday afternoon, according to The Associated Press.

But the protests didn't stop the throngs of shoppers from making their yearly pilgrimage to the discount retailer.

In a statement issued Friday, Wal-Mart said its stores rang up close to 10 million transactions between 8 p.m. and midnight Thursday.

That translates to about 5,000 items being sold per second, the company said.

That was something Kathleen Taylor of Saugerties didn't want to think about.

She serves on the board of directors at the New York State United Teachers and said she was outraged by the way Wal-Mart treats its workers.

"We believe that unions have afforded people a 40-hour week, health care, weekends and all the things that we as Americans have held dear, and as corporations have taken over, the regular citizen of the United States has lost those benefits," Taylor said. "We're here to say we deserve those benefits. The Walton family (which founded Wal-Mart) has enough."

Others, though, were oblivious to that and only had huge savings on their minds.

Adam and Stacey Kotary of Utica, who were visiting relatives in Catskill, said they found some great deals on toys and the crowds weren't that bad.

"I think last night, when they had the stores open, helped out a little bit," Adam Kotary said. "We waited in line for a few minutes, but nothing major."

Melanie Derrenbacher of Kingston said she was fed up with the notion of materialism at this time of year.

"People should be with their families on Thanksgiving. It's a national holiday," Derrenbacher on her way out of Walmart on Friday.

"Black Friday should be on Black Friday," she said. "There's enough hours in the day on Black Friday that you don't need to do it Thursday night. It's crazy."